Ben Weisman.

Ben Weisman passed away on May 20 but unless you were a family member, then you probably never heard of him. Probably not even if you were a mad keen Elvis fan either! What was Ben’s connection to Elvis you may ask? Ben was the one that convinced Bobby Vee in 1963 that “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes”, after earlier convincing Elvis that he “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do” even if he did only have a “Wooden Heart.”

That’s right, Ben was a songwriter of some note. He also wrote for, among many, Dean Martin, Nat “King” Cole, Guy Mitchell Patti Page, Johnny Mathis, Brian Hyland, Dusty Springfield and even Barbra Streisand. Despite having written for so many other artists, Ben is best remembered in connection to Elvis; for two contrasting reasons.

Firstly, for having Elvis record more of his songs than from any other songwriter. (Elvis recorded some 57 of Ben’s compositions.) Which brings us to the contrast. Elvis may have recorded 57 of Ben’s songs but only four of them (including the two listed above) were actual hits.

To some, Ben may be better known for his quantity rather than his quality. Despite this he had little to complain about, having made a life time career out of his limited talent until passing away in his 87^th Year.

What about us? Are we content to make a living and a career out of our talent, even if we never hit the same heights as those around us? Some of us worry about producing quality over quantity and often achieve neither, from being too particular. Others choose quantity over quality and just churn anything out, while others like Ben just work away quietly producing what is needed to keep the wolf from the door and food in the Larder, while every now and then producing a real gem or two like, Wooden heart” and “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes”.

What about you, will you continue to do your best, enjoy your life, while putting in your own unique contributions and enjoying the highs when they come, but not depending on them, nor demanding perfection before you proceed. What say you?